Can’t Get Enough Info

April 2018

NEWTON

Corning opened a new facility for manufacturing optical fiber Newton. The new plant will help the company keep pace with demand from growing tech sectors. Other investments the company is making in North Carolina to accommodate growing sales include expansions to existing facilities in Concord, Winston-Salem, and Hickory. Corning Optical Communications’ Executive Vice President Clark Kinlin said the Newton facility was, “commissioned in record time, a feat [made possible with] the support of state and local leaders here in North Carolina.” Corning, a materials company specializing in glass and ceramics, invented the first affordable optical fiber in 1970. Since then, it has sold over 600 million miles of optical fiber, and management aspires to reach a sales target of $5 billion annually by 2020. In its application for government incentives, Corning projected the Newton factory would invest $250 million in the local economy and create 200 jobs.